September 30, 2011

Being Productive

School's been going on now for... Is it a month and a half maybe? I don't know really but it's all going so fast, week after week is disappearing and I don't know where they go but I know that I'm at least not wasting them like I did most of last year!

Last year I managed school sure, but without doing anything special. Well if you don't count watching nearly every GSL live (from 06-09 or 11-13 on weekdays) which is pretty awesome. But that's also taking away a lot of time when I could've (and often should've) studied - sadly I skipped a lot of school last year. I admit GSL can't explain it all, I was lazy okay!

This year I'd like to a bit better and it has started out fine. I haven't skipped a single lecture yet (Java doesn't count!!) and I'm not too far behind in anything and a bit ahead in others, in summary I'm doing great, heh.

Aside from school though, which is almost even more important, I'm feeling good and getting things done. Our home hasn't burned down yet so that's some success right there, but I'm taking it even farther and taking care of some cooking and stuff too, of course with Veronicas help but anyway. I'm also increasing my Taekwon-do training, doing some reading and a bunch of other stuff. Programming too!

I took the advice of Cal Newport and now I actually plan my days, every day, on the morning or the night before. Here's an example:

• 0730 - 0900 Program
• 0900 - 1000 Call OnOff, electric company, DN, corren
• 1000 - 1100 Program
• 1100 - 1130 Food
• etc..

Of course I don't really follow it to each and every point, but it helps me know what I need to get done this day. Often I skip and I reorder and I do other stuff a lot but if I've done at least half of what I set out to do I've been more productive than I'd usually be! And I even remember to do stuff like make a prenumeration on DN which I would never had otherwise.

Something else that's helped me is a regular and healthy sleeping pattern - go to sleep and wake up at the same time, every day.

I'm feeling good about school and everything but I've got stuff left to do so don't see it as a perfect example - far from it to be sure, but it's a step in the right direction I guess.